Contact

Tags: Understanding Australia's Past, Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology

Grace Karskens teaches history in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales. Her research areas include Australian colonial history, urban history, cross-cultural history and urban environmental history. Grace is interested in promoting historical understandings and awareness to wide audiences and has served as a Trustee of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales and of the Dictionary of Sydney. Her books include Inside the Rocks: The Archaeology of a Neighbourhood and the multi-award winning The Rocks: life in early Sydney. Her latest book, The Colony: A History of Early Sydney won the 2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for non-fiction. Grace was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2010. At the moment she is completing her next book People of the River to be published by Allen & Unwin.

Publications

Books

Karskens GE, 2009, The Colony: A history of early Sydney, 1st, Allen & Unwin, Sydney

Karskens GE, 1989, 'The House on the Hill: The State Conservatorium and `First Class Music' in New South Wales', in Coltheart L (ed.), Significant Sites: History and public works in New South Wales, edn. 1, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, pp. 121 - 141

Karskens GE, 1997, 'Crossing Over: Reflections of the Integration of History and Archaeology at the Cumberland/Gloucester Street Site, the Rocks 1994-1996', Public History Review, vol. 5-6, pp. 30 - 48

Karskens GE, 2003, 'The Sydney Gazette and early Sydney: exploring the 'lived' town', in Kirkpatrick R (ed.), Papers from the Australian Newspaper Press Bicentenary Symposium, Australian Newspaper History Group and State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, pp. 34 - 50, presented at Australian Newspaper Press Bicentenary Symposium, Sydney, 01 - 01 January 2003

Karskens GE, 2001, 'Crucial Fragments: Archives and Urban Social History', in Proceedings of the Convergence: Joint National Conference of the Australian Society of Archivists and Records Management Association of Australia, NSW Society of Archivists and Records Managements Association of Australia, Hobart, September 2001, presented at Convergence: Joint National Conference of the Australian Society of Archivists and Records Management Association of Australia, Hobart, September 2001, 01 - 01 September 2001

Karskens GE, 1988, 'We Thought it was Fantastic! Concord, Sydney in the 1920s', in Bairstow D (ed.), Archaeology of Colonisation: Australia in the World Context, Australian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney, pp. 187 - 201, presented at Australian Society for Historical Archaeology Conference, Sydney, 01 - 01 January 1987

Karskens GE, 2012, Shifting the shape of Australian history: convicts, the early colonial period and the making of Australia: The 2012 Allan Martin Lecture, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra

Karskens GE, 2012, Shifting the Shape of Australian History, School of History, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra

Teaching and Supervision

At present I co-ordinate and teach ARTS1190 Australian Legends: Introducing Australian Studies.

From 2019 I will be teaching a new course exploring the history of Sydney.

Consultation Times
TBA and by appointment.

Honours and prizes

2011 Best Book 2009-2010 (non-North American), Urban History Association (US)forThe Colony: A History of Early Sydney
2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Award – Non-Fiction, for The Colony: A History of Early Sydney
2010 Elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy for the Humanities
2006 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of New South Wales
2000 National Trust Heritage 2000 Award: Category E – Print. Joint winner with Godden Mackay Logan for Cumberland/Gloucester Street Site Archaeological Project Publications, including Inside the Rocks: The Archaeology of a Neighbourhood and four academic articles
2000 National Trust Heritage 2000 Award: Category A - Conservation-Built/Cultural Heritage. Joint winner with Siobhan Lavelle for 'Stage 1 Conservation Plan for the Great North Road'
1998 National Christina Smith Award for Community History, for The Rocks: Life in Early Sydney
1998 NSW Premier's Award (Community and Regional History) for TheRocks: Life in Early Sydney

Engagement and Professional contributions

Fellow, Australian Academy for the Humanities
Carson Fellow, Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society
Member, Australian Historical Association
Member, Royal Australian HIstorical Society
Member, HIstory Council of New South Wales
Member, National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Visiting Fellow, National Museum of Australia
Trustee, Sydney Living Museums (Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales (NSW state government appointment, 2008-2016)
Chair, Curatorial and Public Engagement Advisory Committee, Sydney Living Museums
Deputy Chair, The Dictionary of Sydney Inc. (member since 2006)
Member, Editorial Board, Australian Historical Studies
Judge, Coral Thomas Research Award (State Library of New South Wales) 2015
Member, Editorial Board, Recollections: a journal of Museums and Collections, National Museum of Australia (2008-2011)
Member, Editorial Board, Journal ofPost Medieval Archaeology 2003-2008.
Chair, Environmental City Panel, State of Australian Cities Conference, Brisbane, 2005.
Expert Advisor, Museum of Sydney, Hyde Park Barracks Museum and Susannah Place Museum
Celebrity Speaker, Art Gallery of New South Wales

March 2008, ‘Property is too sacred to be taken away…merely at the will of a Governor’: property, authority and rebellion’, paper given at the ‘Rebellion: Authority and Protest in Convict Australia’ Museum of Sydney.

December 2007, ‘Real things from the real past: journeys with artefacts’, paper presented at the National Museum of Australia.

September 2007, ‘Raising the Dead: Attitudes to Human Remains in the Sydney Region 1840-2000’ paper presented to Randwick Historical Society.